One of Palma’s oldest churches, the Franciscan Basílica de Sant Francesc was begun in 1281 in Gothic style and its baroque facade was completed in 1700. In the splendid Gothic cloister – a two-tiered, trapezoid affair – the elegant columns indicate it was some time in the making. Inside the lugubrious church, the fusion of styles is clear. The high vaulted roof is classic Gothic, while the glittering high altar is a baroque lollipop, albeit in need of a polish.
In the first chapel (dedicated to Nostra Senyora de la Consolació) on the left in the apse is the church’s pride and joy, the tomb of and monument to the 13th-century scholar and evangelist Ramon Llull. He is Mallorca’s favourite son (apart perhaps from the tennis genius Rafael Nadal). Llull’s alabaster tomb is high up on the right. Drop a few coins in the slot for the campaign to have him canonised (he has only made it to beatification). Check out the Capilla de los Santos Mártires Gorkomienses, on the right side of the apse. In 1572, 19 Catholics, 11 of them Franciscans, were martyred in Holland. In this much faded portrayal of the event, you can see them being hanged, disembowelled, having their noses cut off and more.
